The Gods' Horses and the World's Rivers
How do the gods travel to hold court?
Every day, the gods travel to the foot of Yggdrasil to hold court. The Sayings of Grimnir lists 10 horses they ride on these journeys. Each horse has a name, including Glad, Gyllir, and Gler.
Gylfaginning names 11 horses, including Odin's Sleipnir, who has 8 legs. The gods cross the bridge called Bifrost. The text says that Baldr's horse was burned with his master.
Thor wades across rivers instead of riding a horse. The rivers are Kormt, Ormt, and the 2 rivers called Kerlaugar. In The Sayings of Grimnir, the gods' bridge is ablaze and the sacred river waters are boiling.
The rivers each have names too. Sid, Vid, and others flow through the lands of the gods. Gjoll, Leipt, and others pass near humans. From there, they flow down to Hel, the realm of the dead.
Sources for this story (3)The Gods' Horses and the World's Rivers
er þeir dæma fara
at aski Yggdrasils.
When they travel to Yggdrasil to hold court.
“The Sayings of Grimnir” Stanza 30
“The Sayings of Grimnir”Grímnismál
“The Beguiling of Gylfi”Gylfaginning
“Edda Fragments”Eddubrot


Image details
Dorothy Hardy “Heimdallr and Gulltoppr by Dorothy Hardy, 1908” 1908 Public domain View original image
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